


Silence

by Mikkal



Category: The Flash (TV 2014)
Genre: Angst, Canonical Character Death, Grief
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-05-18
Updated: 2016-05-18
Packaged: 2018-06-09 07:16:27
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 718
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6895153
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mikkal/pseuds/Mikkal
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The immediate aftermath of <i>Invincible.</i></p><blockquote>
  <p>	His phone buzzes in his pocket and he fumbles for it, his hands shaking more than he can ever remember them shaking before. “West.”<br/>“Detective, It’s Sherry. Remember? From the, the—.” She sounds frantic, breathing deep, sobbing breaths.<br/>Dread curls low in this stomach. “I remember. What’s wrong?”<br/>“Y-You told me to call you if a-anything weird happened. There’s, There’s a young man in my living room dressed like the <i>Flash</i> and a, a <i>dead body</i>,” she whispers, muffling another sob.</p>
</blockquote>
            </blockquote>





	Silence

In the vacuum of silence left in the wake of two speedsters, there are those who are left behind.

            Joe can’t move, he can’t breathe. Even as Wally starts loudly demanding _‘What the hell_?’ he can’t take his eyes off the spot Henry once stood. Where he stood with Zoom’s arms wrapped around his neck, taunts dropping from his mouth like dead, buzzing flies.

            (“Cisco, can you track them?”

            “Barry’s the Flash?”

            “Oh God, Henry.”)

            His phone buzzes in his pocket and he fumbles for it, his hands shaking more than he can ever remember them shaking before. “West.”

            “Detective, It’s Sherry. Remember? From the, the—.” She sounds frantic, breathing deep, sobbing breaths.

            Dread curls low in this stomach. “I remember. What’s wrong?”

            “Y-You told me to call you if a-anything weird happened. There’s, There’s a young man in my living room dressed like the _Flash_ and a, a _dead body_ ,” she whispers, muffling another sob.

            “Get out of the house,” he orders. “I’m on my way.” He moves to hang up but then tells her: “It’s going to be okay.”

            (It’s not going to be okay.)

            “Iris,” he says. Too loud. Everyone drops to silence when he speaks. “Caitlin, Cisco. Come on.” He grabs his jacket as they scramble for their things. Wally and Jesse move to follow, but he puts up a hand to stop them. “No, stay here. I need you to stay here.”

            “Dad—.”

            He shakes his head. “No. We’ll be back.” He looks to Harry and Tina. “Watch them, please. _Stay here_.”

 

* * *

 

 

Sherry meets them at the sidewalk, a robe wrapped tight around her, makeup smeared from her tears and wiping her eyes. She’s shivering and Joe grabs another blanket from his car, letting her dictate where she wants it.

            “Did you call the police?” he asks.

            She shakes her head. “N-No. Just you.” She bites her lip. “His, his mask is down,” she admits quietly. “I don’t know who he is, but his mask is down.” She’s silent for a long moment. “I’m sorry.”

 

* * *

 

 

They find Barry bowed over his father, clutching at him. His grief is…silent.

            His shoulders are shaking, his face shadowed; Henry cradled in his lap, clutched to his son’s chest. A broken sob crackles from Barry and he collapses over his father even more, holding him tighter.

            Joe’s heart constricts. He hears Caitlin, Cisco, and Iris say things behind him, but it’s like through water, muffled, distorted. Iris brushes past him, dropping to her knees next to Barry, and reaching up to press him close to her. He fights her, scrambling to hold onto his father, but she’s insistent.

            “Cisco,” Joe says, even his voice sounds far away. “Ask Ms. Sherry if there’s a sheet we could use.”

            Both him and Caitlin disappear on that quest, leaving Joe and Iris with Barry. He makes his way over carefully, Iris’ whispers clearing up. They’re just words of comfort, meaningless because it looks like Barry can’t even hear here.

            Joe crouches opposite of them, covering Barry’s hands with his own. “Barry,” he says roughly. “Barry.”

            “I just got him back,” Barry sobs. “I just got him back.”

            He curls his fingers under Barry’s palms, slowly pulling him away from his dad. Barry lurches for him with a broken cry, but Iris holds on. He fights them both for a minute until he slumps, like his strings have been cut.

            “What did I do?”

            “Barry,” Iris says, pained. “No, don’t—.”

            “ _What did I do_?” he demands, voice no more than a whisper. “I just got him back. What did I _do_ to deserve this? All of this?”

            “You didn’t do anything.”

            “Then _why_?”

            He sobs, shattered, curling into himself until he’s nothing more than a ball too small for a tall man like him. Iris drapes herself over him, crying silently with him, looking up at Joe like he could fix all of this. Please, for Barry.

            Joe can do nothing but take the heavy quilt Cisco hands him and drape it over Henry. It’s a finalization. The moment when it’s too real.

            Barry looks up for a brief moment, eyes locked on the pattern covering his father. He reaches out with a shaking hand, tracing one of the flowers.

            “My, My—.” He sobs again. “My grandma made that quilt.”

**Author's Note:**

> Sherry is the woman living in the Allen house in Nuclear Man and Fallout. I figured there was a yard sale/Good Will/ estate thing going on. So Sherry has the mirror/vanity piece and probably a few other things. Like a box of quilts and blankets that matched the wallpaper in her spare bedroom that she never changed.


End file.
